Tuning Feature: Nissan YD22DDTi Modified

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Nissan YD22DDTi engine!"

We often are getting posts requesting information on the premier YD22DDTi power upgrades. So let us look into Nissan YD22DDTi upgrades and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some problems along the way.

The Nissan YD22DDTi are fantastic to work on and with carefully chosen uprated upgrades like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will noticeably increase your driving enjoyment.

In this article we look into YD22DDTi tuning and show the premier modifications.

Just because particular parts are popular with YD22DDTi owners it doesn't mean you should fit it, we shall focus on the greatest parts to provide your YD22DDTi with the best value for money to power increase.

Altering your YD22DDTi camshaft should make a dramatic difference to your engines torque. Choosing a higher performance camshaft profile raises the torque especially at the top end.

NB: Fast road cams commonly boost the bhp and torque through the rpm band, you could drop a little low end power but higher rpm power will improve.

Competition cams, boost the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Race cam will just annoy you whilst on the daily commute.

You should ideally match your torque band to your cars usage so for a daily driver stick with a mild fast road YD22DDTi cam

Different YD22DDTi engines respond better to more or less aggressive camshaft durations so view each engine as unique.

The ECU mapping and fuelling also will make differences on the power gains you'll achieve.

Longer valve durations can alter the power band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

YD22DDTi Tuning Stages

Stage 1 YD22DDTi modifications: Intake headers, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Panel air filters, Fast road camshaft, Sports exhaust manifold, Remaps/piggy back ECU.

Stage 2 YD22DDTi modifications: fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, induction kit, Ported and polished head, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors.

Stage 3 YD22DDTi modifications: Twin charging conversions, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Competition cam.

ECU flashing should help to to establish the full potential of all the mods you've done to your YD22DDTi.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but power output usually vary depending on the mods you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

It is the whole point to any engine modification job to force fuel and air into your YD22DDTi

Intake flow the air from the filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

The size of bore and shape and rate of flow of the Intake manifold can make a big improvement to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the YD22DDTi.

I usually find plenum chambers are needing aftermarket parts, although some manufacturers provide reasonably good plenum chambers.

Adding a YD22DDTi larger valve kit, doing some YD22DDTi port enlargement and head flowing will also increase performance, and as an added benefit will make space for an improved performance increase on other parts.

Turbo upgrades for the YD22DDTi

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your YD22DDTi

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes superb power gains.

If your car has forced induction mods are simpler to install and we find turbocharged engines already contain uprated components.

However every engines have limits

Research these limitations and fit better quality crank and pistons to cope with the power.

We've seen mechanics spending a fortune on turbo upgrades on the YD22DDTi only to see the engine catastrophically fail on it's first outing after it's used on the roads.

Large upgraded turbo chargers often suffer no power at low rpm, and little turbo chargers spool up much more quickly but don't have the top end torque gains.

Over the last 20 years the choice of turbo chargers is always evolving and we are seeing variable vane turbo chargers, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust flow into two channels and feed these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there's a restriction in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the YD22DDTi when a lot more air is being drawn into the engine.

Going up you'll find 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited power at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more complex to configure. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating YD22DDTi fuel injectors

When you improve the power you will need to uprate to the fuel delivery.

More power needs more fuel. We would recommend you to be generous with your injector capacity.

As a rule of thumb add 20% capacity when buying an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and allows a little spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best YD22DDTi performance exhausts

You should look to replace your exhaust if your current exhaust is creating a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you should find that your flow rate is still good even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts generally help improve air flow from the engine but do not go too big or you could reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches for best results.

Usual exhaust restrictions come around the catalysts installed, so adding a higher flowing performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the YD22DDTi

The YD22DDTi engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues. {But if neglected they can cost a small fortune|When neglected they get very expensive to run|They can however be quite expensive if neglected| }

Regular oil changes are vital on the YD22DDTi, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your YD22DDTi engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our YD22DDTi owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Nissan. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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